Relationships: Factors affecting attraction: Self-disclosure
Definition: Self-disclosure refers to revealing information about yourself that you may
regards as personal and exclusive. This may contain deep thoughts, feelings and secrets and
sharing these may strengthen the romantic bond of a relationship if used appropriately.
Social penetration theory
The gradual reveal of self-disclosing over the period of a relationship is called the social
penetration theory devised by Altman (1973).
These feelings shared can be very deep and personal, intimate partners would expect
reciprocal exchange of this type of information, sharing sensitive information Is a sign of
trust and progression of a relationship (greater ‘penetration’)
Breadth and Depth of self-disclosing
As this increase, partners become more attracted to each other.
Beginning of relationship, we disclose a lot about ourselves, but the information is
‘superficial’ meaning on the surface. It is ‘low risk’ information that we would be
comfortable to share with family, friends etc.
The Breadth (how much of a range) regarding personal information is low at the
beginning, so we do not risk disclosing ‘too much information’ and risking the
relationship ending so early.
The depth (extent that we disclose) becomes deeper as the relationship progresses,
along with the comfort to expand the breadth of topics. Eventually, we reveal strong
beliefs, thoughts and secrets. This can be attractive, as it reveals an honest, truthful
partner that has put trust in their significant other.
The reciprocity of self-disclosure
For a relationship to develop, and increase in breadth and depth, there needs to
be a reciprocal element of disclosure. Once disclosing something, we would
favour a response of empathy as well as disclosure given back from our partner.
This creates a healthy balance of disclosure which deepens intimacy and trust.
Evaluation of self-disclosure +/-
Real world application: research into self-disclosure can help people who want to improve
their communication within the relationship. Romantic partners use self-disclosure
deliberately to increase intimacy and strengthen the bond. Evident in Stafford’s (1998) study
that found 57% of homosexual men and women said that self-disclosure was a main way
that they maintained their relationship. This suggests that if relationships with a lack of
personal communication increased their self-disclosure, this could benefit them in terms of
deepening satisfaction and commitment. This shows that psychological insight into factors
affecting attraction such as this, can be valuable in assisting troubled couples.
Cultural differences: One limitation is that the suggestion of increased breadth and depth of
self-disclosure leads to higher satisfaction, cannot be generalised to all cultures equally. This
partly due to the amount that certain cultures accept of self-disclosure e.g., US individualist
cultures self-disclose much more about sexual thoughts than in China collectivist culture
(Tang, 2013). Although disclosure varied, levels of satisfaction remained the same, this
suggests that self-disclosure Is not necessary in some cultures to reach satisfaction, or
similarly that self-disclosure does not actually cause satisfaction directly. Therefore, the
results are culturally relative and offer a limited explanation that cannot be generalised to
cultures other than western individualist.
Definition: Self-disclosure refers to revealing information about yourself that you may
regards as personal and exclusive. This may contain deep thoughts, feelings and secrets and
sharing these may strengthen the romantic bond of a relationship if used appropriately.
Social penetration theory
The gradual reveal of self-disclosing over the period of a relationship is called the social
penetration theory devised by Altman (1973).
These feelings shared can be very deep and personal, intimate partners would expect
reciprocal exchange of this type of information, sharing sensitive information Is a sign of
trust and progression of a relationship (greater ‘penetration’)
Breadth and Depth of self-disclosing
As this increase, partners become more attracted to each other.
Beginning of relationship, we disclose a lot about ourselves, but the information is
‘superficial’ meaning on the surface. It is ‘low risk’ information that we would be
comfortable to share with family, friends etc.
The Breadth (how much of a range) regarding personal information is low at the
beginning, so we do not risk disclosing ‘too much information’ and risking the
relationship ending so early.
The depth (extent that we disclose) becomes deeper as the relationship progresses,
along with the comfort to expand the breadth of topics. Eventually, we reveal strong
beliefs, thoughts and secrets. This can be attractive, as it reveals an honest, truthful
partner that has put trust in their significant other.
The reciprocity of self-disclosure
For a relationship to develop, and increase in breadth and depth, there needs to
be a reciprocal element of disclosure. Once disclosing something, we would
favour a response of empathy as well as disclosure given back from our partner.
This creates a healthy balance of disclosure which deepens intimacy and trust.
Evaluation of self-disclosure +/-
Real world application: research into self-disclosure can help people who want to improve
their communication within the relationship. Romantic partners use self-disclosure
deliberately to increase intimacy and strengthen the bond. Evident in Stafford’s (1998) study
that found 57% of homosexual men and women said that self-disclosure was a main way
that they maintained their relationship. This suggests that if relationships with a lack of
personal communication increased their self-disclosure, this could benefit them in terms of
deepening satisfaction and commitment. This shows that psychological insight into factors
affecting attraction such as this, can be valuable in assisting troubled couples.
Cultural differences: One limitation is that the suggestion of increased breadth and depth of
self-disclosure leads to higher satisfaction, cannot be generalised to all cultures equally. This
partly due to the amount that certain cultures accept of self-disclosure e.g., US individualist
cultures self-disclose much more about sexual thoughts than in China collectivist culture
(Tang, 2013). Although disclosure varied, levels of satisfaction remained the same, this
suggests that self-disclosure Is not necessary in some cultures to reach satisfaction, or
similarly that self-disclosure does not actually cause satisfaction directly. Therefore, the
results are culturally relative and offer a limited explanation that cannot be generalised to
cultures other than western individualist.
